Creaks

Creaks is an adventure game about using light and shadow to solve puzzles and evade monstrous creatures. In order to get through the rooms and push the story forward, you’ll need to flip light switches, step on pressure pads to manipulate doors, and redirect monsters away from the exit. The descent of the protagonist into a dark and fantastical world is bolstered by an outstanding art direction.

Entering the world of Creaks, you are immediately introduced to the core mechanic of the game: playing with light. Monsters are repelled by light, and if caught underneath will turn into innocuous pieces of furniture. You’ll need to leverage this behavior, sometimes by baiting a monster under a light source and turning the light on at the right moment, in order to make your way toward the next room.

The rooms themselves are made of multiple floors arranged in a 2D fashion. The protagonist can run, climb, interact with objects, and step on switches in order to open up new paths. Building these paths is all about visualizing enemy movement and avoiding contact. In a sense, the level design is reminiscent of the original Oddworld platformers, with the added interplay between light and dark.

As you progress through the game, new types of monsters will appear, requiring you to memorize a handful of movement patterns. For instance, the flying jellyfish usually patrol at a leisurely pace, but the dogs will rush at you when given the chance, and you’ll need to be careful and quick on your feet in order to get past them. Monsters turned into furniture can be moved around to reach new heights—but beware not to push them out of the light, otherwise they’ll attack you and the level will be reset. By the late game, you should be very familiar with the enemies and the obstacles around them, so the puzzles may end up feeling a bit repetitive.

Creaks sets up a few incentives for you to poke your nose into every nook and cranny, in the form of fragments of lore and collectible paintings. These paintings are interactive, requiring you to solve the mini-puzzles within them so that they can be catalogued. You’ll need the full collection of paintings to unlock the true ending of the game.

From the very opening scene inside the protagonist’s room, the game’s hand-drawn art is striking, its style evocative of a surreal, Victorian world. Harsh black lines outline every piece, and the monsters move as if they were puppeteered by an unseen hand. Heaps of books and photographs litter the attic-like rooms, a clutter suggestive of eerie inhabitants and long-forgotten stories. These feelings are skillfully reinforced by the sound design; with rising crescendos and uncomfortable chords, the soundtrack drums up a sense of unease within every level.

Even in moments of respite, Creaks depicts a claustrophobic underground world which never feels truly safe. As such, the game may be a little unsettling for those who cannot stomach horror well. Though it is light on the creepy monster designs, the overall atmosphere could put you on edge.

This description was written by Hira and edited by Oriane Tury.